With a growing list of wealthy clients and prospects, young attorney, proud Texan, and practicing Christian James Houston Gray is finally on a roll in Dallas-Fort Worth. On a hot Friday in 2007, childhood friend and rising builder Ryan Latham strolls into Gray’s office with an opportunity that could set them up for life. Gray senses something is wrong: The housing market is already over-inflated, the banks are tightening up, and interest rates are spiking. After Ryan leaves his office, Gray digs deep. Behind the massive returns projected is nouveau riche real estate developer and well-connected Sharoush Kavusi, who walks with titans and funds his projects with government-backed loans and shady foreign money. Things get hotter than a Texas summer when Gray is hit with a personal crisis. Can he wrestle with his own moral shortcoming while trying to unravel the twists and turns of Latham’s high-stakes game? Gray redoubles his efforts to find the righteous way and enlists his mentor law Professor Jeremiah Wynn; his fly-boy-turned-JAG-lawyer Ace Hancock; and his insightful friend and confidant Ali Faruq, a former Lebanese Muslim who converted to Christianity as a result of Gray’s witness. Burning the midnight oil and pursuing the truth with the help of his trusted sidekicks, Gray finds himself awash in something more sinister: Kavusi is intent on revenge against enemies near and far, and has woven a web of unspeakable destruction. Can James Houston Gray find the will and the way to set things right, and save himself and his friends before the wolves lurking in the darkness devour him? With the help of FBI Agent John “Ram” Ramirez, on loan from SEAL Team 6 and bent on revenge of his own, he has a chance. A slim one. davidgroce.com
